Craft Show in Stockholm and an Easter freebie cross stitch pattern

Warning: lots of photos today :D :D


Last Saturday I went to Stockholm to visit Syfestivalen - which is, although it is modestly called a "sewing festival" - the biggest craft event in Sweden. There was everything: sewing machines, lots and lots of yarn, scrapbooking, jewellery-making etc. However, there wasn´t too much embroidery, only at a few stands and those only had a limited range of patterns.
Anyway, I cannot say I was disappointed, I was there at 11 a.m. and came out at 4.30 - just because I was too tired.

Here are a few photos of the show:


This was the queue before entering.


The crowd.



Some embroidery...



...and some lovely yarn. In Sweden there is a huge variety of wool and knitting seems to be the most popular craft.



I took part in different workshops. I wanted to try some sewing machines, so I went to the Janome stand where they had a workshop making this cute little bag. It is covered with plastic. I think they wanted to make a point how well the machine copes with all kinds of materials - and it certainly did. Because of the plastic it is difficult to see that there is some lovely machine embroidery on the fabric. They had a clever little tool with a pin that held the fabric in one place and as I was sewing, the fabric rotated around the pin, thus sewing a perfect circle using decorative stitches. It was great fun.



Later I tried other machines, too: a Brother and a Pfaff.

I wanted to learn some new embroidery. I checked out Bunka Broderi first. Here we were taught how to work with a tool that looked like a mini punchneedle and some polyester thread - it is supposed to have come from Japan. I made this Easter egg. It was fun but I don´t think I want to do this again - I am not a big fan of polyester :D



I also visited Skapande Broderi, and they were doing some tulle embroidery. Here is my work: a portrait in the style of Picasso - I think I do like this :)



Finally, I also learnt a crochet stitch that looks similar to nålbildning (needle binding?). I have always wanted to learn nålbindning, and I will, sooner or later, but this crochet was really easy, too. I don´t have a photo, unfortunately but will do some of this crochet later and then will take photos.


I did some shopping. I didn´t have much money, so I couldn´t buy the most beautiful yarns, but I enjoyed drooling over them, anyway LOL. I did find some affordable yarn, though, that I really loved: some 100 % silk, and some 100 % wool. Guess which is softer? Yes, the wool. The silk actually feels a bit coarse-ish. Who would have thought?



The wool is on the left, in skeins, the silk is on the right, in balls. Both are off-white.

The brown and red smaller skeins are plant-dyed wool embroidery thread, a gift for a friend.

In the back you can also see my lovely new knitting needles from KnitPro. I saw these in the knitting cafe where I sometimes go, and was so happy to find them here. The cables and the needles are interchangeable, and the cables don´t twist. Here is a closer picture:



I have already tried knitting with them, so here is a small sample of the silk yarn. I tried different stitches and different size needles. The smallest looks the best, but I doubt I will have that much patience to knit with those :D :D




As I came home, I was so excited about all the lovely sewing machines I saw and tried, that I spent hours browsing the webshops. I have been planning to buy one for long. So on Sunday night I took a deep breath and plunged in: bought one. And I decided to go for a really good one: a Pfaff Ambition. Tuesday afternoon it was already here. Oh, I am so happy. It has so many functions, it will take me ages to learn everything - but we have already become friends. :)



To practice, I decided to make a holder for my circular knitting needles - since I was thinking of twisting cables :D.
So I made this - it is really simple, two squares sewn together, with horizontal lines sewn all the way across, creating tubes for the cables. It was good practice for starting and ending the sewing, since it works a bit differently from what I was used to.



I also started to sew a peasant blouse for myself but got a bit tired so it is not done yet.


And now, for my newest cross stitch pattern. I am already thinking of spring, so I came up with a little easter pattern. I made two versions in different colour schemes. I hope lots of people will like it.





Happy stitching, everyone.

Small Valentines

Hello, everyone,

I haven´t been blogging for a while. Life has just been busy... well, not much busier than usual, but I am having a little cold and it makes me so tired every day. You know, the type when you have no high temperature, you are able to work, but you feel sick all day, having headaches and drop down by the time you are home from work. And it is just not getting any better. :(

Anyway, I have been playing around with MacStitch - my new cross stitch program. To be honest, I am not very happy with it. It has lots of nice features, I just miss the things I was so used to in my old PCStitch. Like the drag-and-drop function. Anyway, I am sure I will be all right with this after a bit of more practice.

Another strange thing is, it doesn´t let you save in jpg format - only a small, thumbnail version. So I had to learn how to publish pdfs on the blog. Let´s see if it works. :) I am using the thumbnail jpg files to link to the pdfs but they look a bit strange, I am sorry about it, will try to fix this for next time.


Some small Valentine Day´s patterns - click on the picture to go to the pdf and download it.

Oh, and I have bought a huge pile of wonderful books again - I will be back with some photos soon.

Until then, please, let me know how you like this new way of posting patterns. Does it work for you?

Happy stitching
Agi

Happy ewe year!

Snowflake. Blackwork. But blue.

I was thinking: how long since I have drawn (and stitched) a blackwork pattern.
And this little thing was born.

Of course, it is not black. I imagined it in blue (DMC 3838) with tiny, lighter blue beads (like DMC 3747). Or you can use French knots / colonial knots instead.

Stitched on some sparkly Aida... what do you think? Anyone willing to test it? :D :D

Happy Christmas/New Year stitching.

Boldog karácsonyt. Merry Christmas. God Jul

I know it is not Christmas yet. :)
But soon.

Still, if you want to stitch a bookmark as a gift, you have just enough time for one of the following little patterns.
In Swedish it is so short that I made a smaller version as well that can be used as a gift-tag or a pincushion.

Have fun stitching them. Send me a photo if you have done so. :)

Second sunday of advent

Hi, everyone,


Have just come home from our advent concert with the choir I joined in August. I have to say it is so difficult, especially at this time of the year. We are singing lots of songs that are "common" at Christmastime in Sweden, but to me they are all new. Also, I missed lots of practices because I was sick, then my daughter came, then I was sick again... I tried to learn the songs on my own, but it is not so easy. Anyway, we did all right, although I wasn't very sure of myself.


I am thinking of closing down my on-line shop. I started it in May and there was only one sale. I feel a bit disappointed. Not too much, I never expected to make lots of money from my craft, but still. Anyway, we are organising a charity event in my school, a concert with the kids singing and playing, and all the money we get from the tickets goes to orphans in India. So I thought we can do a craft fair at the same time. I have a few kids who kept coming in one or two afternoons, after lessons, to my classroom and making little things: bracelets, christmas ornaments etc (there is even a stuffed ice-cream cone!!!)- we are going to set up a table and sell them. I will also bring lots of my things: pincushions, biscornus, bracelets, and try to sell them. At least they can serve a good cause.
And then the online shop will just go. Or perhaps I can leave the photos there and just say that I take orders... don't know.


I have been busy this last week, and we had lots of snow, and I had to go to the dentist (2 hours, brr), then practice the songs - there wasn't much time left for stitching. I am missing it, actually. I started this little angel but couldn't finish it. The pattern was inspired by an old Swedish motif but I changed it quite a bit and I think it looks really modern now.

Hope you will enjoy it. I am stitching it in light blue. What colour would you choose?

Palkó (who is sharing my name) has stitched it. Here

Advent

Hello, dear Friends.

Today it is the first Sunday of Advent. I am singing in a church choir and we sang some really beautiful songs today. I was so happy because one of my favourite Advent songs happens to be in the Swedish Psalm Book. We sang it in Swedish.


Here
is a really beautiful version of this song by Enya. Listen to it. Hope you will like it.


Are you getting excited because it is Christmas soon? Are you busy stitching (or perhaps shopping :o) for Christmas?

I am organising a mini craft fair at school with the kids, with all the money going to orphans in India. Not only the children but also I am making things so I was busy with that. I will show you some photos next week. I hope we can raise lots of money.


What else? I am knitting a pullover for my daughter, although I can never be sure if she wears what I make for her. Most of the time she doesn't. :( My fault, why can't I figure out what she likes???


I am also making a macrame Christmas tree and trying to write a tutorial, we will see how it turns out.


I have taken some photos of the winter wonderland that is Sweden at the moment. Soon I will also post photos of my WIPs.

Until then, I have another cross stitch pattern to share with you. This is based on traditional Hungarian patterns. The red colour makes it perfect for Christmas, but you can stitch it in any other colour (or variegated) for any occasion.

Happy stitching and get in lovely Christmas mood. But just carefully, you don't want to be burned out by the time the big day comes. :D

More Swedish charts

I have made a little Swedish pattern, the Dala horse, which can be almost called the symbol of Sweden. Originally coming from the province of Dalarna, the Dala horse is made of wood and painted. I know, I know, there are quite a few cross stitch patterns of it out there already, but I wanted to try my hand with it.

I wanted to keep it simple and easy, I had in mind some quick Christmas cards or gift tags, perhaps a pincushion or a scissor fob. But when Stephen saw it, he said it wasn't good enough: the Dala horse should have more decorative harness. So I made another version, still small and easy, just a little bit fancier.

I will show you both, you can decide which one you want to stitch. The traditional colours are red, with green, blue, yellow and white decoration but of course there are lots of other versions, so it absolutely all right to change the colours.

Happy stitching. :)

By the way, one of my few patterns for sale is a doll in folklore costume from Dalarna. Just in case someone is interested, look at my Pages.

New finishes and a Christmas freebie

Hi, everyone, how are you doing?

Have you started your Christmas stitching yet?

I have made a free Christmas pattern. Apart from the usual motifs I used some Swedish motifs that I really love. The deer is used widely in Sweden, although it is quite a universal pattern all over Europe. But the Julbok, the goat is typical Swedish, as is the crown. I hope you like it. You can use them together or one by one on gift tags or cards.

I have finished two pieces recently: one is Celtic Knot by Textile Heritage. I have stitched it on an afghan, I am collecting different Celtic patterns on it.

The other is my own Dove that I published in my last post. To be honest, I myself didn't think it will turn out this good, I am very happy with it. I used variegated threads, Anchor 1204 on the wing and DMC 4110 on the body. For the wing and the tail I stitched in rows, to have this stripey appearance, for the body I stitched in little block or circles so it became more blotchy. I made one little change: I backstitched a circle around the eye. I felt the eye was a bit too small.

What do you all think? What colours would you use?

Right after I wrote about my bargain finds last time, I happened to be in the Red Cross shop again. (Only by accident, you understand.) This is part of what I came away with (I bought lots of buttons and yarn to take to school, too).

One of these books is called "Embroidery, cutting, sewing", the other "Rare cross stitch".

Lots of embroidery fabric, a thread holder in wood and a tool to wrap yarn on (what is it called?), and some more yarn, and bags of different embroidery threads:wool, cotton, linen, perle.

w

Needlework books and a free pattern

Good morning!

We have autumn break in Sweden so finally I have time and energy to write a blog post. I have been planning to write for weeks but life has been hectic. Not to mention that my back has been causing me so much pain that I couldn't do much. I am still in pain but it is getting a bit better. Fingers crossed, please, everyone. :)


So, I have been planning to show all the beautiful books I have bought or received recently. Sweden is full of treasures, as I have told you a few times. Not only can you buy lovely old fabric, weaving, lace and embroidery in every second-hand shop but they also have bookshelves in those shops, there are lovely used book-shops and you can find books in he "loppis" which is something in between a garage sale and a second-hand shop.

Here are my latest finds: embroidery, textile art and sewing patterns. They are not the latest fashion, but I just love them, it is so much fun looking at old patterns - and if I ever get to that level in sewing, I might be able to adjust them a bit. And the embroidery patterns don't age, right? :)


I found the first book in this Encyclopedia of Home Needlework (or something like that) at a loppis, then bought the second one from the internet. I am looking for the rest (20 volumes altogether) but they are not easy to find. No wonder: this is a fantastic book, with basically everything you can think of and some more. It is in Swedish but that is not so much a problem any more :D

Here is another lovely book and a page with some beautiful old weaving. I wonder what the three-legged figure means - it appears more than once on woven clothes.

This one I bought on the internet. It is not only textiles but all kinds of crafts, e.g. woodcarving, basket weaving etc.

These two folders I found at a Red Cross shop. One is needlework (weaving and embroidery), the other is sewing patterns.

This is the perfect example of the sewing patterns from the 70s. I think it is hilarious! I have threatened Stephen to make him something like this if he doesn't behave LOL.

And there is one more folder with tons of sewing patterns and very useful instructions. I think I will use it in school.

These two little pattern booklets I received as a gift from Stephen. He found them on Tradera (the Swedish e-bay) and bought them for me. Can you see the name and year? 1962! They are lovely. You can look forward to some more Swedish inspiration in my patterns.

Let's go over to what I have been stitching lately. Not much (hanging head in shame). But some. I found this Christmas card pattern in my UFO bag. I think I started it 3 years ago but when I saw I won't finish it before Christmas, put it down. Then repeated the same the next year. Last year I didn't even take it out. But now I managed to finish it. It is a DMC kit that I received from a friend on crossstitchforum.com and it uses lots of metallic thread. I actually loved stitching it. So many people complain about metallics, especially DMC but I had no trouble at all. And I love the overall effect. You just can't have too much bling, can you? :D The colours are so unusual and still so great. (I lost one of the buttons - but have since found it.)

I have made some small felt ornaments too: Swedish hearts and Hungarian tulips. I have been trying to teach myself how to draw Hungarian folk patterns (and other patterns - I have discovered Zentangle!) On the gray fabric you can see my embroidered doodling, the traditional tulip with French knots and rice stitch - makes it very modern, don't you think so? I made that without drawing the pattern on the fabric, just improvised. Will use this piece of fabric for other experiments.

This is another gift. Stephen's parents visited us a few weeks ago. After they went home, his mum sent me this. It is an Eva Rosenstrand kit, a tablecloth, that she started long ago but as her eyes are not good enough to stitch, she sent it to me to finish. Isn't that really kind of her? I love this, I will surely stitch it.

Perhaps you want to have a look at my weaving experiment? I couldn't do much on it, it doesn't go well with backache. :( So I have done this much:

Two small butterflies that I stitched for a charity organisation for quilts.

I took out another UFO, my Celtic afghan and started a Celtic knot pattern, this is what I am working on right now. I love it but I am so sad because I cannot keep the back of the stitching neat. Too many colour changes. :(

Sorry that it has become such a long post with so many pictures. I hope you still find it interesting.

Finally, another free cross stitch pattern. This is a dove, it has a bit of a folk art feeling to it but still modern. At least that was the intention :) I hope y ou like it. Enjoy stitching it.